THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER

So here we are. It's happening. To clumsily paraphrase Henry Rollins: this is what Trevor Strnad trained you for. This is go time.

Battered and bruised from the loss of their fallen frontman, THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER never gave even the slightest impression that they might call time on their reign of death metal excellence. One of the genre's most passionate champions, Trevor Strnad was a whirlwind of enthusiasm and guile. He was also emblematic of the ferocity that has driven his band forward from its formation back in 2001. Alongside co-founder Brian Eschbach, he established them as the most dogged and uncompromising of the countless bands that emerged in the early 21st century. And yes, they were still flying and gaining yet more fresh momentum when they released Strnad's swansong 2020's "Verminous". Even without personal insight into the current lineup's emotions and motivations, the continuation of this saga always seemed the most likely outcome.

A riotous manifestation of their founders' sincere love for all-action extreme metal, THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER's tenth album is equal parts exhilarating and reassuring. Recent personnel shuffling has been well-documented: Eschbach is the new vocalist, Ryan Knight the returning guitarist. Both know exactly what is required, and "Servitude" is a gleaming testament to their commitment to the cause. It would have been easy to try something different, to redefine the band's mission for a new age. The hard but sensible option was to bulldoze forward, changing absolutely nothing, and simply honoring the past by keeping it fit for the future. These songs are cut from the same bloody cloth as those on its nine predecessors, but with Eschbach's distinctive screech adding a freshness to every song's execution, and a production that is more venomous and direct than TBDM have been in a while. "Servitude" pulls off the slightly outrageous trick of being both a glorious rebirth and a zealous honoring of ancient principles. More importantly, it absolutely fucking rips from its spooky, horror-stricken beginning to its bludgeoned, psychologically violated conclusion.

It starts with a wicked flourish. After the ubiquitous haunted house intro, "Evening Ephermeal" is an instant classic. Brimming with beloved BLACK DAHLIA MURDER traits, but executed with renewed ingenuity, it is more than enough to allay any nervousness about the whole enterprise. Thereafter, the quality remains sky high, as this revitalizing new lineup spew up a whole slew of new anthems. Preview single "Aftermath" is monstrous and muscular, and indicative of this band's steady evolution over the years, but still played with the insane levels of violent energy that made early classics like "Miasma" and "Nocturnal" such essential listening two decades ago.

Darker and gnarlier, "Cursed Creator" weaves gaunt, grotesque melodies into a lurching swarm of old-school death metal riffs, before blossoming into a grand, gothic chorus. Meanwhile, the melo-death gods are roused once again on the magnificent, blissfully tuneful "Asserting Dominion" and the brutal tornado of the title track. Another reminder that nobody else has merged death metal sub-genres together with anywhere near this much panache, "Servitude" explodes like a debut.

THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER could have taken a prolonged hiatus and returned a few years down the road, refreshed and reinvented. But fuck that. Whether wallowing in grim, doomy waters on "Mammoth's Hand", or blasting away like some crazed, nihilistic army of intergalactic ghouls on "Transcosmic Blueprint" and climactic hook avalanche "Utopia Black", this is an album that nobly delivers the goods, while screaming defiance at the stars. Everybody involved should be immensely proud. The saga continues. Never in doubt.